ROMA (ITALPRESS) – There are those who have more than ten medals in their neck and those who have one. But in the eyes there is the same pride of being received by the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella. At the Quirinale, in the festival hall, the head of the state met the Italian athletes and paralympic athletes who won gold medals at the World Championships, Global Games and Deaflympics in 2025. About sixty sportsmen present for a total of 97 ori, 72 silver and 63 bronzes. “I know your sacrifices and the fatigue of preparation. Behind any athlete, Olympic and paralympic, there is a long journey of approach made of renunciations and sacrifices, is the testimony of the commitment that overcomes the difficulties”, Mattarella began, who then emphasised the imminent Winter Paralympics of Milan-Cortina, at the start on March 6 with the opening ceremony in Verona, which will see the presence of the president of the Republic.
“There is much to do again and the gaze is on the future, to the neighboring one, that is to the Paralympics. It will be an important event that will be followed by our fellow citizens and from all over the world. I’ll see you in Verona. It will be an element of civilization, which pushes many boys and girls to engage in paralympic sport, and it is an exhortation to do what you have done – Mattarella said. For all athletes there is a continuous effort to overcome the limits and to do better and better. This creates a spirit of competition with oneself, the most important that there can be, producing a great contribution to our country and its civil growth. There are not only for competitions, but also for this message you launch.”.
The legacy of Milan-Cortina will be the “improvement of our country and our culture, with consciences inclined to respect, tolerance and the great principles of Italian sport, both Olympic and Paralympic”, explained the president of the Cip, Marco Giunio De Sanctis, who recalled all athletes “who carry out competitions with the same commitment of the present champions, but are not included in the international paralympic sporting scope” determined.
To take the word also two very champions. Marco Cicchetti, twice the world gold medal in the paralympic light athletics and the champion Viola Scotto of Carlo, winner of eleven medals (of which you are gold) at the Deaflympics of Tokyo, the Olympic Games for deafers. “The sport with its values is able to overcome obstacles and break down barriers, in our case of communication”, explained Scotto di Carlo. “To be here is a deep emotion, those times and those measures only tell a part of our history. Behind there are sacrifices and people,” Cicchetti recalled.
– Photos of Quirinale repertoire –
(ITALPRESS).
